When the economy goes south — as it undeniably has — so usually does business. So why then the buzz of new restaurants, cafes, bars, lounges and clubs opening in Oakland? Is this city defying the laws of financial gravity? Not exactly. The reason for the blossoming of night life despite the recession is multifaceted, like Oakland itself. Many projects were in the works when the crisis hit like a cluster bomb.

The owners could have pulled out. But they decided to stay. Talk of a recession was in the air when the owner of Oakland’s AIR lounge and bar decided to invest in two new ventures: Ave restaurant on Telegraph Avenue (opening night is March 15 if all goes as planned) and the club Era (scheduled to open in the spring).

The recession was official by the time Gairy Jacques and his partners were up to their waist in the projects. But, Jacques reasoned, entertainment thrives during bad times and food is a basic human need.

So “… why worry? Well, for starters, are there enough potential patrons right now willing to fork over $15 for dinner or $10 for a cocktail? The answer is yes, according to Jacques and other entertainment entrepreneurs. “I’m not worried,” Jacques said.

The banks, however, are closed fisted. “The banks are giving nothing,” Jacques said.

That means relying on collateral, personal savings and keeping the operation small.

“Our plans are set no matter what happens to the economy,” said Kevin Best, co-owner with Jacques and another partner of Era. Best also runs B Restaurant and Bar in San Francisco and in Oakland, as well as Boxed Foods Co. He’s not making big bucks in Oakland but he can spread out the pain and the gain among the three businesses and keep staff small.

The economy will turn and around, Best said. In the meantime, investors are more willing to put their dollars in bars and restaurants instead of the stock market. “They have to put their money somewhere,” he said.

Opening additional venues is good for existing business in Oakland, he added. Expanding in Oakland is not such a gamble when you consider the competition — or lack of it. Places like Era, which is setting itself up as a serious competitor to San Francisco’s club scene, can keep people this side of the Bay Bridge, especially budget-conscious patrons. People are still going to go out and party, Best said. Oakland just needs more places of the kind people could find in San Francisco, Manhattan or other big cities to fill their night, he said. “We’re going to get them.”

That “we” he mentioned is an unusually cooperative group who live in Oakland and who support each other in the drive to make the city a destination by filling the gaps that exist between the city’s far-flung venues. Oakland is a city of more than 400,000 in 56-square-miles. There’s a lot of space to fill.

Help from the city of Oakland also helps sway owners like Best to bring their business here with redevelopment money and other enticements such as tax breaks and fewer fees than San Francisco _ especially that city’s requirement businesses with more than 20 employees provide health insurance for their staff. That makes it easier to operate in Oakland than San Francisco, said Dirk Kahl, owner of Levende Lounge in San Francisco, Levende East on Washington and 9th streets, and a soon to be third venue less than a block away from the Oakland location.

But getting a new place off the ground is a challenge in Oakland, he added. Opening Levende Lounge in San Francisco took 30 days including a full renovation. Levende East took five months. “Every day you are not open is a day you are not making money,” Kahl said. Having a go-to person in the city administration to facilitate new restaurants and bars opening would help expedite the process, he said.

Amir Iranpour just missed the geographic cutoff line for redevelopment money for his second Bacceeso restaurant. That didn’t deter the restaurateur from putting his Mediterranean restaurant and bar near Lake Merritt in what was a boarded-up liquor store near the corner of Grand Avenue and Park View Terrace. He opened the original Bacceeso on San Pablo Avenue and Dwight Way in Berkeley when few other venues existed in the then rough neighborhood. So the Iranian native is no stranger to taking a chance. It is not easy to operate in the current economy, he said. But with good quality and reasonable prices, things will work out, he said. “You shouldn’t be afraid of anything.”

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